Storm Season Made A Loss Of Best Potential Crop Harvest

Surry farmer John Appel planned on having a good cotton crop this year - one of the best he'd seen.

Agricultural statisticians agreed. They said farmers in Surry and Isle of Wight could plan for better yields of cotton, corn, soybeans and peanuts than last year.

Then good old Mother Nature revealed her plan - or unleashed it. First, tropical storm Dennis brought rain. Then flooding, winds and even more rain came from hurricane Floyd.

Now, Surry and Isle of Wight farmers like Appel hope that the next three days of rain-free weather will dry the soil and allow tractors and other farm equipment to get through and do what's necessary to save the crops.

But, Appel said, "it's up to the good Lord at this point."

Storm-related crop damage will cost Isle of Wight and Surry farmers somewhere near $10 million. Isle of Wight farmers will lose about $6 million from crop damage; $3 million in damage to the peanut harvest alone and $2 million to cotton.

Surry farmers will lose about $3.8 million. The biggest monetary loss is expected to be peanuts, which extension agent Rex Cotten predicts will lose about $2.1 million. But the largest crop loss will be cotton. Surry lost 5,000 acres, or 40 percent, of the county's total harvest, with a price tag of about $875,000.

Surry farmer Keith Seward said he spent much of last week wondering if the rain would ever stop. Almost 15 inches of water later, he said he still hopes to save most of his peanut crop - if the ground would dry. While the soil remains wet, mold and diseases develop, which will only hurt the crops even more.

Seward's peanut fields, his main money crop, already show signs of disease. In one spot, only brittle branches remain of a peanut plant. Several other plants around the barren spot have yellow leaves that droop.

"I know when I run the digger under there," he said pointing at the yellow leaves, "and turn those vines over, there will be nothing but vines. No peanuts."

But Seward hopes to be able to get in the field soon and combat the diseases. Again, he said, that depends on whether the ground will be dry enough to hold farm equipment.

Seward's corn crop fared even worse than his peanut crop. By now, he said he would have harvested the corn, but he's been forced to do all he can between rain days.

Standing in one field of corn on Thursday, the situation seemed dire. Many of the dried tan stalks lay in the damp muddy soil, knocked over by Floyd's winds.

"When they're laying down, the combine can't pick them up," he said. "Plus, with the ground so wet, I couldn't go across this field anyway."

Since the storm, Appel has spent his days with his sons cleaning his aging farm equipment, talking about times past when families could survive by farming, when 15 families worked on the land in Surry that four farmers now struggle to farm.

For farmers like Appel, the loss comes during already turbulent times. Many crop prices are at a 30-year low. The hope for a good yield at least meant more money.

Appel said he remembers when farming wasn't a losing battle - a time when he could afford to buy new farming equipment.

Now, Appel said, "I've got to repair what I got and work hard to keep it running. I can't afford nothing new."

Appel waits for the day that he can get back to work in his fields. Appel should have begun defoliating the cotton fields, spraying the fields so the leaves will fall off. But, again, damp soil determines when that process can begin.

Until the ground can welcome him, Appel said he doesn't want to look at his cotton crops lying sideways on their inch-thick roots, with some of the boll opening and touching the wet soil.

"I don't want to see that bad news," he said. "Anytime cotton is touching the ground, it's gonna rot."

Since there's nothing Appel can do about it, he said, "why go out there and worry about it?"

But Seward still checks his, hoping for the best. But, he said, with each day that goes by, "I could see dollar bills floating away."

Judith Malveaux can be reached at 247-4926 or 357-6392 or by e-mail at jmalveaux@dailypress.com